Houston man accused of stealing $42,500 in carbide powder

Published 4:22 pm, Monday, November 25, 2013

A Channelview man employed by an industrial coating company is accused of stealing more than four tons of carbide powder valued at nearly $42,500.

Gustano Estrada, 41, is charged with theft of 8,463 pounds of carbide powder between November 2011 and December 2012.

As described in the arrest warrant, the powder is used to coat pipes, valves and other outdoor products. It is sprayed by a robotic machine onto the products but only about 20 percent to 30 percent of the powder sticks to the surface.

The remaining powder is captured in water where it settles as mud.

A recycling company collects the mud and dries it and then pays the company for the powder it salvages, the arrest warrant states.

The company was alerted to the alleged theft by a relative of Estrada's, records state.

An investigator with the Houston Police Department's Metal Theft Unit said Estrada had worked 20 years for the company in the 4500 block of Gessner Drive.

Estrada's relative told a company official that Estrada had been taking carbide powder and selling it at a scrap yard on North Shepherd, according to the arrest warrant.

A website contracted by the city of Houston to collect data from all transactions at scrap metal businesses showed that Estrada made 70 sales at the North Shepherd scrap yard.

Estrada was arrested Nov. 22 and was released on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in the 228th State District Court on Jan. 15.

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